Kiev oblast

Kyiv Oblast ( uk, Ки́ївська о́бласть, translit=Kyïvska oblast), also called Kyivshchyna ( uk, Ки́ївщина), is an oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, which is a self-governing city with special status. The administrative center of the oblast is in Kyiv city, the capital of Ukraine, despite the city not being part of the oblast. The Kyiv metropolitan area extends out from Kyiv city into parts of the oblast, which is significantly dependent on the urban economy and transportation of Kyiv.

The population of Kyiv Oblast is . Its largest city is Bila Tserkva, with a population over 200,000.

The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is in the northern part of Kyiv Oblast. It is administered separately from the oblast and public access is prohibited.

History

Kyiv Oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on February 27, 1932 among the first five original oblasts in Ukraine. It was established on territory that had been known as Ruthenian land.

Earlier historical administrative units that became the territory of the oblast include the Kiev Voivodeship under the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Kiev Viceroyalty and Kiev Governorate under the Russian Empire. The northern part of the oblast belongs to the historical region of Polesia (''Polissia'').

In Kyiv region, there was a specific folk icon-painting style much influenced by the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra painting school. Saints were depicted on the deep purple or black background, their clothes dark, their haloes dark blue, dark green or even black, outlined by thin white dotted contours. The Kyiv region's icons collection is the part of the exhibition of the Museum of Ukrainian home icons in the Historical and cultural complex " The Radomysl Castle".

The current borders of the oblast were set following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Administrative oversight of the new city of Slavutych, which was constructed as part of the Chernihiv Oblast, was then transferred to the Kyiv Oblast (''see Chernobyl zone below'').

On 24 February 2022, Russian Armed Forces invaded Kyiv Oblast as part of its 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine launched a counter-offensive to retake the region in March 2022. The oblast was declared free of invaders on 2 April 2022 by the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Malyar.Ukraine ‘retakes whole Kyiv region’ as Russia looks east
aljazeera.com (3 April 2022) According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense its troops had retaken more than 30 towns and villages around Kyiv. However, on April 9, 2022 the Russians attacked the Oblast again, even destroying a railway station in Bucha.

Geography

Kyiv Oblast has a total area of (approximately 35 times the area of Kyiv city) and is located in north-central Ukraine. On the west it borders the Zhytomyr Oblast, on the southwest – Vinnytsia Oblast, on the south – Cherkasy Oblast, on the southeast – Poltava Oblast, on the east and northeast – Chernihiv Oblast, and on the north – Homyel Voblasts of Belarus.

The oblast is equally split between both banks of the Dnieper River (''Dnipro'') north and south of Kyiv. Other significant rivers in the oblast are the Dnieper's tributaries: Pripyat (''Prypiat'') (R), Desna (L), Teteriv (R), Irpin' (R), Ros' (R) and Trubizh